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( three. agree to disagree )

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Natasha and Steve arrived at the meeting and found that everyone was seated at a long table already. They all waited in silence for the spy and the soldier to join them before starting their agenda.

They didn't miss the disapproving looks they gained from Tony and Sam though, to which they just shrugged it off.

"Ah, Captain, Miss Romanoff, glad of you to finally join us." Ross gave them a short smile. She couldn't tell if it was genuine or sarcasm. Probably the latter.

Steve took a seat at the far end of the table, while she took the seat in front of him.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best thing of my life, because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass. I found something forty years in the army never taught me- perspective." Ross started to say.

Natasha didn't know if Secretary Ross was trying to start the mood lightly enough for them to bear with the real deal later on. And she certainly didn't know if he was serious once he started doing silly actions while telling them the story.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Steve silently watching Ross, all playfulness he had earlier was nowhere to be found.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt." Ross continued, finally, his tone now becoming more serious. "You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives... but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word, vigilantes."

"What word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" she interjected.

He narrowed his eyes, answering nonchalantly, "How about dangerous?"

She had an inkling feeling that he'd say that.

"What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignore sovereign borders, and inflict their will wherever they choose?" He asked them, but no one dared answered. "And who frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

They watched as Ross went to show them a file on the screen. At first, it showed them a map with a lot of landmarks and distinct yellow points marking a few places. She immediately recognized it as the following places that they've been through for the previous years.

These were the places the Avengers went on their missions together.

It zoomed in on one mark.

"New York," Immediately after Ross said that, the video of them fighting the Chitauri came into view. A lot of people could be heard screaming and running in terror. While some, unfortunately, were dragged down by the various explosions and buildings collapsing in the scene.

It was very distinct that it was their doing when Hulk suddenly came out and smashed the building to pieces. Not caring that there were still people down there.

She could do nothing but bear to watch it. Rhodey had a remorseful look and glanced at her and Steve, they couldn't utter a word. Well, what were they supposed to say? The expression on their faces gave off what they needed to tell him.

"Washinton, D.C.," Ross stated, checking off the list one by one.

This time, both Steve and Natasha immediately recalled it as the time they were first assigned to be partners. It was the time when they realized SHIELD has been HYDRA all along and tried to stop the hellicarriers from killing thousands of innocent people.

But from the video shown, it looked entirely different from the people's perspective. The hellicarriers crashed down both in the grounds and seas and led to them taking down a lot of other innocents.

Sam lowered his head shamefully.

"Sokovia," Ross went on.

This happened during their second mission as the Avengers. Having to deal with Tony's mistake of creating Ultron, they were essentially filled with relief and gratitude when they managed to stop him in the end.

But then again, there would always be a price of something in return. There would always be a consequence, in the end, no matter what they do. Good or bad.

Tony, who was seated separately from them, looked sullen. He was having difficulty to watch the videos playing on the screen. He stayed tight-lipped, furrowing his eyebrows every now and then.

"Lagos." Ross finished. It was their most recent mission with the new recruits. The video was enough to remind them of their faults once more.

Steve snapped a look over at Wanda concernedly, the troubled look on her face was there once again. Thinking of the best solution, he decided to stop this. It was too much for everyone to take in at the same time.

"Okay, that's enough," Steve ordered, solemnly.

Ross stopped the video and took a deep breath before holding his chin up to break down the news to them. "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate." He paused shortly. "But I think we have a solution."

The man beside him handed a book. From a view, it looked thick and white enough for them to notice it's some sort of contract. Natasha had to heave in a breath when she realized where this was heading.

Ross placed down the papers. "The Sokovia Accords." He handed it over to Wanda. "Approved by 117 countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if the panel deems it necessary."

Natasha couldn't contain the wary look escalating on her face. She wasn't sure how to respond to this. For years, the Avengers were already used to being on their own, and operating on their own, wouldn't it be the same if they were going to be under the hands of various governments who clearly wanted them arrested back then?

Then again, at the same time, her mind drifted off to the lives of the innocent serving as the price for their actions. It wouldn't be fair to them. Sure they were getting bruises, cuts, and hell even fractures when being sent on a mission, but how about those who were accidentally being caught in the midst of everything?

It was a tough call to make.

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place, I feel we've done that." Steve reasoned.

Ross put up a bleak look. "Tell me, captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?

She could tell Steve was trying hard not to talk back and settled on resting a slightly irritated look at the irrelevant question of Ross.

"If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences," Ross stated firmly, still fixing his gaze on the captain. "Compromise, reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

"So, there are contingencies?" Rhodey turned to Ross for approval.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." As Ross continued on, Steve had only noticed that Tony was being quiet all the time, and was surprised to see him far from where they were. Tony was avoiding his gaze. "Talk it over." He finished.

Natasha felt that it was the perfect time to ask him this. Bracing herself for the answer she was dreading to hear. "And if we come to a decision you don't like?"

Ross stopped shortly, turning back to shot her a look. "Then you retire."

She sent back a humorless smile.

Steve shocked everyone by speaking up. "With all due respect sir, a couple of papers wouldn't stop the threats from arising. A lot of people died and it's something we can't take back, but this... this isn't how the world works. Threats come and go. It never stops."

"I think you're forgetting that the main problem here isn't about the threats. It's about the Avengers being a threat to innocent lives." Ross remarked, annoyed, his tone dripping in lack of humor.

"A lot of people have tried to won a majority of the world and be slaves to their will. Don't you think at least some good credit goes to the Avengers for preventing that to happen?" Steve asked, his voice raising up a few decibels high.

Natasha gave him a look to warn him that despite stating his point with respect, it was kind of off to talk back to a government official. Much less, the secretary of the state. Even if she did kinda snap at them before, this was the time wherein they needed to shut their mouths and think of this thoroughly first.

Steve didn't catch her warning gaze.

"Your argument is irrelevant, captain. Do you really want me to answer the question? I'm afraid you already have an idea what I want to say." Ross said, sounding pissed off.

Steve stood his ground. "It's the truth, sir."

Secretary Ross shook his head in wry amusement, telling him off. "Tell that to the innocents you've dragged down with this."

With that, he walked out on them, leaving them to talk over their final decision.

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Steve was continuously flipping on the pages of the accords, while they listened to the argument of Rhodey and Sam. Both were depicting different sides of the panel. While Tony was currently slumped up in the chair, eyes closed and looking dreadful about the banter between their two teammates.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have," Rhodey stated.

"So let's say we agreed to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam bit out, crossing his arms.

Rhodey looked at him in disapproval. "117 countries wanna sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'Nah, it's cool,'."

"How long are you gonna play both sides?" Sam snapped.

"I have an equation." Vision interjected.

Sam let out a sarcastic grin. "Oh! This'll clear it up."

They waited for his statement.

Vision was sitting on the sofa, his legs crossed, and face surprisingly neutral unlike most of them. "In the 8 years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, a number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurable rate."

Steve looked at him blankly. "So you're saying it's our fault?"

"I'm saying there may be a causality." He cleared it up, sitting up straight. "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict, and conflict breeds catastrophe. Oversight... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Boom!" Rhodey let out triumphantly.

Natasha was the first to bring up the fact that Tony was being suspiciously silent enough for the day. She was worried about him since she saw him earlier. "Tony? You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"That's 'cause he's already made up his mind." Steve concluded.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony said, standing up, "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort." He grabbed a mug from the counter. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a Bed and Breakfast for a biker gang?"

He then placed his phone on the table. He pressed the screen, leaving it to show a picture of a young black man.

"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor-level gig, an Intel plan for the fall." Tony stated, his tone dripping humorless while his face held a certain dim of darkness to it. Bitterness. Guilt. "But first he wanted to put a few miles on his sole before he parked it behind a desk. See the world, maybe be of service. Charlie didn't wanna go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia. He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."

Natasha tried to swallow back the lump forming on her throat.

He took a sip of his coffee. "There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! And whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys." Tony explained, crossing his arms to insinuate his point.

Steve spoke up. "Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony asked nonchalantly.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." Steve pressed.

This time, it was Rhodey who intervened."Sorry, Steve, that... that is dangerously arrogant." Steve couldn't help but shook his head in disapproval, not getting his point. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D., it's not Hydra."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change," Steve argued.

"That's good! That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down. Stopped manufacturing." Tony pointed out.

Natasha continued to watch their banter in silence. Trying to consider all of their opinions and reasons before making her own.

"Tony, you chose to do that." Steve chastised. "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect but the safest hands are still our own." He explained carefully, trying to get them to see his point in all of these.

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony responded firmly.

Wanda cut in, "You're saying they'll come for me."

"We would protect you." Vision assured her.

Silence passed them.

Natasha tried to consider all their options, trying hard to figure out who was right and who was wrong. She very well made sure that she wasn't going to think about her relationship with Steve in the picture, but it doesn't mean that it gives her a reason to side with Tony's argument.

She needed to think this through.

For some reason, she could see the point of this egotistical jerk. She knew that the intention of the Avengers was pure and that they were formed and brought together because they wanted to help people. Save people. But seeing the consequences just took back all their hard work.

Then again, Steve also made a good point. With everything that happened, the one time they decided to trust an organization run by people with their own set of rules and agendas, it completely used their trust against them. This may not be SHIELD or HYDRA, but it is still run by people who can possess control over them. Like they were their puppet toys.

It was a very difficult decision to make because both Tony and Steve have their own valid reasons. She, however, knew that the government has been butting their noses in her business every damn time they could. And she was sure as hell that they didn't trust her as much as she to them.

But maybe... they really had gone far this time. It wasn't time to be selfish anymore, she was tired of being selfish. She needed to think of the other innocent people dragged in this mess because of them.

Even if the Avengers' intentions and one true purpose were good but their actions to do that was wrong... it's time to take on a different perspective of the situation.

Suddenly, it made sense to her. She knew where to side.

"Maybe Tony's right." The words came out of her mouth, surprising everyone, and herself as well. Everyone's heads turned directly at her, especially Steve's, who was staring at her like he couldn't believe she just actually said that. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off..." She trailed off, avoiding Steve's gaze.

Sam widened his eyes in disbelief. "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?"

"I'm just... reading the terrain." This time, she looked directly at Steve. His expression was blank and, shocked, maybe. "We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

Tony looked at her incredulously. "Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?"

She sighed, exasperatedly. "Oh, I want to take it back now."

"No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed. I win." Tony grinned triumphantly.

She rolled her eyes at him. Her attention hovered over to Steve when she saw him retracted his phone from his pocket. As she watched him read the text, a dark look mirrored his face. Her eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement.

"I have to go," Steve said, quickly standing up and fleeing out the room.

Natasha blinked a few times, trying to process what had just happened. Tony raised an eyebrow at the retreating form of the captain. He arched an eyebrow. "What's his deal?"

She let out a deep sigh, before standing up as well to follow him. "Wait here." And she followed Steve out the door. She darted her head around and found him standing at the end of the stairs. "Steve?" She approached him slowly. "You okay?"

His gaze turned to her. "I got a text."

She looked down at his phone, squinting her eyes to get a look of the screen.

Natasha already knew who it was talking about. She went white, her face falling in realization. "Peggy..." she whispered.

Steve sighed heavily, a dark cloud cast over his eyes. His lip quivered and she could sense he was trying hard to not to break down in front of her.

And she completely understands, though. She knew how much Peggy meant to Steve. Even if she had somehow altered the past and Steve ended up falling in love with her, she had witnessed it personally that he still grew to love Peggy. Maybe not in that way anymore, but Steve really did care for her.

Besides, she was a wonderful woman.

Natasha couldn't help but feel her chest tighten too. She had lost another friend today.

Steve scrolled down the messages. "The funeral's tomorrow." He glanced at her. "Mind accompanying me there? It's easier for me to handle if I'm not alone."

She wanted to. She really does. She owed Peggy that much and owed her so many times for taking care of Steve when she hadn't been there by his side to stand by with him before.

But they were running out of time.

If they wanted the Avengers, their family, not to fall apart, they needed to fix this as soon as possible. They needed to put this first. "Steve, I..." An apologetic look etched on her face. She noticed Steve's face changed, his eyes turned darker. But that didn't change her mind. "I care about Peggy, you know that right? And I know she means a lot to both of us but... we need to take care of the accords first."

That was it. The look of disbelief was more prominent on his face. His jaw tightened. "What?"

Crap. She sighed, eyes going softer in contrast to the pile of anger surging in him. "Steve, hear me out, please."

He stared at her harshly, voice filled with bitterness. "Look, I know it's our duties as Avengers to deal with this but a couple of hours too much to take your time? Can't afford to waste time and go to a damn funeral for your dead friend?"

She flinched at how bad he made it sounded, narrowing her eyes, "No, that's not it-"

"Then what is it?" he snapped.

"It's because we need to take care of this as soon as possible. They're giving us one day to decide and we're already nearing half of it with no progress at all. We still can't settle for one answer because we're not open for a solution." She reasoned, trying her best to keep her voice calm and not cause a scene. Especially when their friends were literally just a few feet away with just a door separating them.

His voice lowered down, but it sounded more awful. It was venomous. "It almost sounds like as if you're forcing me to agree to the accords like you did." he accused.

She could tell he was annoyed and there was no point to lie to his face, anyway. So she didn't deny it any longer. "Well, why can't you?" she bit back.

Steve was startled by her tone, the anger dropping from his shoulders for a second before it rose back up again. Hotter and seething this time.

"I'm not saying you're wrong because your reason is valid. You have a point and I understand that. I respect that. But it's time to step down a little bit. There's nothing wrong with admitting when's the time we crossed the line, Steve. It's not about shifting the blame nor turning back from our responsibilities, it's for the sake of the people who lost their trust in the Avengers. If we can't find a way to win it back, then what's the point of saving them if they don't want us to?" She contented, crossing her arms with a stare unrelenting. Unwilling to back down.

Steve did the same. He wasn't threatened nor move by her argument. If anything, it made him even more reluctant to compromise with her. "If we agree to this now, our responsibilities, our faults, and their trust on us wouldn't be of the Avengers anymore. Everything that we do will always be either an accomplishment or failure of the UN. I'm not being arrogant, but for someone who's had personal experience with these things, it's not a decision that should be agreed on. Our right to choose shouldn't be taken away from us. Not now. Not ever."

The two stared at each other in silence, their eyes seemingly trapped in a battle. Both showed no sign of backing down. Both too stubborn to give up the fight. After a while, Steve was the one who decided to let it go. He turned away to step down. "I have to go. Don't wait up for me, I'll be back to discuss the accords later."

Natasha was annoyed. "And where are you going?"

"I'm going to a funeral." Steve snapped back.

What? They weren't even done discussing these goddamn accords yet! She could go with him and accompany him as he pleased as soon as they were done! She'd do that for him. For Peggy. She just wanted to get all of this done before it gets worse. "You can't just walk out on us. On me. If you want me to go with you then I'll go with you. Just let us finish this first-"

"It's fine. Talk about it with Tony first. I won't be long," he stated.

No. No, it's not fine. "But-"

Steve cut her off with a sharp look. "I'm not having this conversation right now, Nat."

She felt her eye twitch in fury. "You're going now?"

"Yes." He shot her a look. The kind of look that felt a complete slap to her face. "Because I'm the kind who's nice enough to put a friend first before work."

That shut her up.

Surprisingly, so did he. Seeing the hurt look on Natasha's face made him want to kick himself for being a complete dick. He may have gone too far this time but he was just so goddamn angry. Furious. He was mad that she was being selfish. Every single time they had put work first before anything else, even before their them, it's only fair that even just one damn time they put work last.

Natasha's lip quivered. Her fingers shook and she felt a huge lump forming in her throat. But still, she stood her ground. She wasn't going to let him know how much that hurt her. Like his words were knives cutting through her chest. She suppressed the bitter remark forming at her mouth.

He didn't understand. He didn't understand that she wasn't trying to be selfish, if anything at all, she was hardly thinking of herself anymore.

She was just doing what needed to be done.

With that, she gave him one final glance, eyes slightly glistening before turning away and leaving him be.

Steve rubbed a hand over his face, breathing hard through his palms. God. He didn't want to fight with Nat. He never wanted it when they argue or come to disagreements, he hated fighting with her. Sometimes to the point where he'd just give way and swallow his pride to end their stupid fight.

But this time, he couldn't just back down like he did all the time.

This time, he had a valid reason, and you can bet on it that it would take more than just a pile of papers and various words to change his mind about that.

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You know it was hard for me to write this chapter because I really don't want Steve and Nat to argue as much as possible.

But I guess we all saw this coming, didn't we? :-(

So the next chapter's going to be about Steve and Sam attending the funeral instead, and of course, that's where he's going to meet Sharon again...

Hm. I think my pitchfork's sharp and ready to go do some hunting. xD Lol. HAHAHA.

Please leave comments guys! And thank you for the votes!